Alpha Mail: Summer 2013

Alpha Mail is an irregular list of new and upcoming indie (predominantly PC) games.

Cannon Brawl

Status/ETA: On Steam Early Access nowPrice:$9.99 on Steam
Right now, there’s a good 4-ish hours’ worth of campaign with unlocks, and multi-player, and it’s still in continuing development. I gave dev Peter Angstadt a nudge on Twitter, and he says a popular request on his forums has been a level editor. I took that as a sexy knowing wink.

Project Zomboid

Status/ETA: Playable alpha/Greenlit on SteamPrice:785yen on Desura
Currently in alpha with short campaign playable, but more content (e.g. co-op and wave-based survival modes) to be found in mods.

Star Citizen

Status/ETA: Kickstarted, in developmentPrice:$30 on website
I’ll just let the video speak for itself.

CastleStorm

Status: Released on Steam
Price: $9.99 on Steam
Somewhere between tower defence, a 2D RTS, and a 2-player MOBA. Honestly, it’s hard to describe.

Kingdoms Rise

Status/ETA:On Steam GreenlightPrice: TBA, but with planned free-to-play element
In the vein of Severance: Blade of Darkness, or more modern PC block-and-chop-em-ups Mount & Blade, Chivalry, and War of the Roses, Kingdoms Rise looks to be a very pretty answer to boring dice roll-based action RPGs. We’ll keep an eye on it.

Banished

Status/ETA: In development, release date TBAPrice: He won’t even tell us the future price. He’s a mean man
Tropico 4 tickled me in my secret parts with its unique combination of setting and anal-retentive town management. In short, Banished looks like it’ll do the same, only in a pretty viking-esque locale. The only complaint I have with this is that the developer (singular) won’t let me give him any money yet.

Super Time Force

Status/ETA: XBox Live Arcade, Release date TBAPrice: TBA
Yes, it’s pixel art. Yes, it’s a 2D shooter. But at least this one looks to have more depth than just “shoot things in increasingly frantic levels until it’s over”. Hopefully it will come to PC after a period of soon-to-be-defunct-probably-XBLA exclusivity.

Concerned Joe

Status/ETA: On Steam Early Access nowPrice: TBA
Concerned Joe appears to have all the polish and charm of fellow simple-yet-I-want-to-marry-it platform headscratcher Thomas Was Alone.

King Arthur’s Gold

Status/ETA: On Steam Early Access nowPrice:$9.99 on website
KAG has been around for a while. But it’s now in beta, and combat has been rebuilt. It’s still frantic as all shit, though. With added Wilhelm scream.

Will To Survive

Status/ETA: Currently being KickstartedPrice:£10 on Kickstarter
A recent graduate’s first effort, I can’t help but notice how similar it could end up being to Project Zomboid. While the base games of scavenging and surviving might look similar, there’s plenty of time for both developers to add their own touches, in terms of large-scale game structure, tone, and game mode/multi-player intentions. One interesting twist is that the game will be multi-platform, and you’ll need to hold up in a safehouse whilst not playing the game. Yep, it’s an alien invasion Tamagotchi.

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